Rumor Control: Post Says Times Select To Go Free

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Rumor Control: Post Says Times Select To Go Free

Those of you unfamiliar with the media wars waged everyday in New York City between the city’s newspapers are advised to take the following tidbit with a huge grain of salt. The New York Post, probably the most aggressively competitive newspaper (online and on the streets) in New York is reporting that The New York Times, led by Arthur Sulzberger Jr. (pictured right), is poised to do away with its Times Select program and offer all parts of the newspaper online for free.

The Times’ own columnists, most notably Tom “The World Is Flat” Friedman, have often complained about their work being locked behind a fee on the Internet, and the recent acquisition of The Wall Street Journal by Rupert Murdoch (who also owns The New York Post, another free online publication) has already led to speculation that The Wall Street Journal will soon offer its content online for free.

What you won’t see in The Post’s story is the reason this should all be taken as pure speculation. The Post’s history waging media war is riddled with scorched earth and over-the-top stories. In their recent battles versus The New York Daily News, no blow was ever low enough. So this could be a legitimate early tip on The NY Times’ future, or just a bit of artificial pressure applied to the market by The Post. In the meantime, I'm happy to continue paying for the inaccurate hyperbole of Friedman because it's still entertaining–kinda like The Daily Show if Jon Stewart took himself too seriously.